


Sometimes, Zeno Dies

by RadAceFriend



Category: Akatsuki no Yona
Genre: Blood, Death, Gen, I don't know what else to tag this as, Pain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-25
Updated: 2017-05-25
Packaged: 2018-11-04 19:07:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10997118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RadAceFriend/pseuds/RadAceFriend
Summary: For the Ouryuu, dying becomes almost expected after a while





	Sometimes, Zeno Dies

The first time Zeno dies it is raining.

It's shocking first, he can feel the blood oozing out of him, he knows he dropped Seiryuu, but he couldn't move his arm anymore. It hurts like nothing he's ever felt, and the rain is washing the blood away and letting it soak into the mud. The soldier in front of him raises his sword again, ready to kill, then stops, running.

_Running from Zeno._

But that isn't possible, Zeno is dying, and because of him Seiryuu will die as well, and then King Hiryuu will cry.

Then he feels it, skin and muscle knit together until the separated bones fuse together, and he's dizzy but there is no wound.

It's disgusting, and he thinks he will throw up, but Seiryuu is behind him, and he still can't move, so Zeno forces back that feeling and picks him up again, supporting him against the shoulder that should be bleeding out.

He doesn't say anything, and he lets the others believe that it was a cut that healed quickly. It makes more sense than how Zeno didn't die.

* * *

 

Hiryuu doesn't tell Zeno what Ouryuu's power is. He says nothing, and it is awful, because Zeno knows that Hiryuu must know, so he can't understand why he didn't say anything.

Hiryuu falls asleep before he can ever tell Zeno, and Zeno prays for his King's soul, thinking of how he will one day see him again when he goes above the sky.

* * *

 

When Zeno breaks his leg falling down the stairs and it heals within moments, he begins to think about the time he should have died. Over time, he told himself that it was just a strange cut, and he had just healed quickly, the same way he always heals quickly.

But a broken leg should not be normal again after a minute, he should not be able to walk around like nothing has happened after barely any time at all. He spends more time sitting down looking at his leg in shock than it spends healing.

A tiny voice in the back of his head says that maybe his soul won't go above the sky like Hiryuu's did. He tries to block it out.

* * *

 

Zeno can't bring himself to tell Hakuryuu and Ryokuryuu and Seiryuu about what happened. They wouldn't believe him, and he doesn't want to get hurt again. Even if he heals, the wound still hurts like it does for everyone else.

He promises to meet Guen and Abi and Shuten when they die and see each other above the stars, but he doesn't tell them that he will probably never go back.

* * *

 

Zeno dies in battle.

He dies many times, often more than once in the same battle, but then the scales cover him and he can't hurt anymore.

But then Guen dies, and it hurts him so much, because Abi and Shuten are dying too, and he knows now, he _knows_ that he won't see them, that he can't see them, that he won't ever join them above the sky.

He wants them to wait, he needed to visit them, he needed to see Guen, to give Shuten sake, to call Abi by his name.

He leaves the palace, unable to stay there when they are all dead. He forgets to count the years for a bit.

* * *

 

Zeno is dead when Kaya finds him.

Zeno is so dead that he almost doesn't remember who he is, he has to think about it, but Kaya helps, she helps a lot.

Kaya helps so much that Zeno decides to help in return, working for her medicine and bringing her pretty flowers. Even as she gets worse he helps her, so so careful.

When Kaya is dying, Zeno prays to the yellow dragon god. He offers to be his slave, to not care that he can never see Guen and Abi and Shuten and Hiryuu again, just for Kaya to be well, just for one more day.

The dragon god is silent, quiet the way he has been ever since Zeno drank his blood, and Zeno goes back into the hut again, hoping that maybe his prayer has been heard.

Zeno dies many times when he holds Kaya's hand, but he doesn't ever want to let go. He doesn't move or speak, and when Kaya is nothing but bone under a blanket, he does move, burying her and putting flowers around where she sleeps.

He asks Guen and Abi and Shuten and Hiryuu to look after her, hoping that maybe he might one day be allowed to go beyond the sky and be with them again.

* * *

 

Zeno dies many times.

He dies so many times that he loses count, the same way he loses count of the months and years.

When Hiryuu is reborn, he visits the dragons, and he tries to give them something. Zeno can't give Hakuryuu anything more than words, but he sees that Seiryuu wants to play, so Zeno gives him a ball, one that is all his own. Shuten would be horrified at the conditions of Ryokuryuu, but Zeno knows the importance of managing to do something yourself, and he knows that Ryokuryuu is strong enough to leave his chains behind by himself, and learn all the things he needs to.

Zeno dies many times while he waits for Hiryuu. He counts more now, sixteen years, and he likes to talk to Kaya sometimes. He hopes that she remembers him and is watching from the heavens.

* * *

 

While serving the new Hiryuu, Zeno dies a lot.

Hakuryuu and Ryokuryuu and Seiryuu and the Thunder Beast and the Lad are so shocked when he doesn't really die, when he shows them everything he can do.

When his head gets chopped off, he sees them, just for a bit, Guen and Abi and Shuten and Kaya. They are smiling and waving, waiting for him still, and Zeno almost reaches them when his head comes back onto his neck again and he is back in his undying body again.

When the rest gather round to ask Zeno questions, Zeno doesn't tell them how many times he's died, and he says nothing about how many times he's tried to die. Zeno carefully keeps them away from that topic.

Zeno dies many more times when serving the new Hiryuu, but it's okay, because that's what Ouryuu Zeno is for.

* * *

 

When the Miss dies, Zeno is sad.

He knows it was going to happen, but he doesn't want Hiryuu to leave again, he doesn't want to lose his happiness. Zeno cries, and he prays to the dragon gods and to Guen and Abi and Shuten and Kaya to keep her safe.

The Thunder Beast dies too, and Zeno cries and prays for him.

The Lad dies too, and Zeno has spent so long crying that he doesn't have any tears left.

Hakuryuu and Ryokuryuu and Seiryuu die as well, and Zeno tears himself apart with his grief.

Their names, he thinks. Zeno should call them by their names.

_Yona_. A princess who ran away from the castle and had to relearn everything she ever knew.

_Hak_. A general who gave up his name to follow around a princess. He had loved her more than anything else in the world.

_Yoon_. The pretty genius who knew everything and hated to be called their mother.

_Kija_. He had hated bugs, but had been like Guen when he fought, and had always loved his brothers.

_Jae-ha_. He called himself a beautiful monster, he was a man who could never bear to be chained down.

_Shin-ah_. A person possessing the most beautiful eyes in the world. He had hoarded nuts for his squirrel, Ao.

Zeno remembers them. He keeps them in his heart next to Guen and Abi and Shuten and Kaya.

* * *

 

Over the years, Zeno dies a lot.

Hiryuu doesn't come back again, and Zeno can spend years watching the changing skies, talking to people who aren't there.

Zeno watches the world change. He watches as the dragon villages become so hidden that no stranger could ever find them, as the legend of King Hiryuu and his Dragon Warriors is forgotten. The calendar changes again, but Zeno only notices when it's been like that for hundreds of years.

Zeno forgets how old he is, but he never forgets Hiryuu and Guen and Abi and Shuten and Kaya, and Yona and Hak and Yoon and Kija and Jae-ha and Shin-ah. Zeno tells himself their names everyday so that he doesn't forget.

* * *

 

Zeno is surprised when people find him, and they take him and put him in a soft bed.

Zeno gets out of it to go outside where he can see the sky, he thinks if he looks far enough he might be able to see them.

Zeno dies there, and he's surprised at that. But he's more surprised when, holding the dragon crest, his spirit walks up to beyond the stars and the sky.

* * *

 

When Zeno gets there, they're waiting.

There is Hiryuu and Guen and Abi and Shuten, and there is Yona and Hak and Yoon and Kija and Jae-ha and Shin-ah. And there, between them, is Kaya, and all of them are smiling.

Shuten speaks first. "You still own me some sake."

And Zeno laughs and laughs and laughs because he is happy and his family is here and he will never die again.

 


End file.
